Bike coalition director plans to pedal out the door

Leah Shahum, who presided over the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s shift from a relatively small band of renegades and enthusiasts to a potent advocacy group that helps drive transportation policy, will leave her job as executive director at the end of the year.

Shahum, 42, has been executive director of the bicycle advocacy group for a dozen years, and worked as membership coordinator, handing out fliers to passing bicyclists, for another five. With the organization strong and effective, she said, it seemed like a good time to move on.

“I feel so confident in the way the organization is going right now that it seems like the right time to leave to pursue new adventures,” she said.

The first adventure will be a two- to three-month fellowship studying Vision Zero, the strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities, in Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. Then she’ll return to San Francisco and look for the next challenge, possibly in pedestrian and bicycling safety.

“The more I think about Vision Zero, the more I think it’s the next phase where cities are going in terms of street safety.”

During Shahum’s tenure behind the handlebars, the coalition has grown from 2-1/4 — she was the quarter, working eight to 10 hours a week — to 17 full-time employees and to about 10,000 members who volunteer more than 10,000 hours a year.

The coalition has become an effective advocate for funding bike facilities — from bike racks to separated bike lanes — and improving bike access. It also offers bicycle safety classes and staffs bike valet parking at civic events, from Giants games to street festivals.

“In the end, I think I’m most proud of how we’ve been able to change the narrative around bicycling in San Francisco,” she said. “Ten to 15 years ago, it felt like the conversation was on the margins. Today, while we still have more work to do, I’m really proud to have built bridges to so many communities that now value bicycling.”